Finding Their Way
by A Million Shades Of Blue
Summary: Clone Captain Rex and ARC Trooper Echo find themselves cast out from the Republic after being overheard discussing the plot that Fives had been investigating prior to his death. Meanwhile, a lost Ahsoka Tano tries to find her place in the galaxy after she leaves the Jedi Order. It seems their paths are destined to cross… AU. Sorta Rexsoka.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I'm Nic and this is my first fanfic (hey that rhymes). This is set after Bad Batch Arc.** **It probably will evolve into some sort of Rexsoka something… but right now I'm starting at the beginning. Sorry, my beginnings are kind of boring, but it will get better! Just read it. Enjoy!**

Rex stared out of the ship windshield at the stars zooming by as they traveled through lightspeed. He sighed as he thought about the days when he would be watching them with his brothers, on their way to a battle. But that would never happen again. After he was overheard telling Echo about the plot Fives had talked about, he had been relieved of duty and exiled from the Republic. But at least he had Echo with him.

"Where exactly are we going?" Echo asked.

"To Saleucami," Rex replied.

"Saleucami? Why there?"

"There's another clone out there, named Cut. He lives on a farm with his wife and kids. He left the army after the battle of Geonosis. I was thinking of asking him what to do. He probably felt as lost as we do now."

"All right," Echo said. "Fine with me. It's good to have a place to start, at least."

Rex was silent for a while. He sat thinking about what would become of him and Echo. Would they ever see one of their friends again? Their situation seemed hopeless.

"Were coming out of hyperspace," Echo announced. "Prepare for landing."

The green planet of Saleucami loomed in the distance as they approached it. They quickly located Cut's farm and touched down.

Rex and Echo stepped off the ship. Cut's Twi'lek wife, Suu, approached their shuttle.

"Who are you?" She asked. "More clones? Is the war finally coming here?"

"No, Suu. It's me, Rex," he said as he removed his helmet.

Suu smiled. "Cut! Rex is back!" she yelled into their house.

Moments later, the clone emerged from the house. "Rex. What brings you here?"

"We'd better go inside," Rex told him. "We have a lot to talk about."

Once they were inside, Rex, Echo, Suu, and Cut sat around their table. Suddenly, Cut and Suu's son, Jek, dashed into the room from the upstairs level.

"Rex? Is that you?" he said.

"Yup. Its me," Rex replied. "You'd better go upstairs for now."

"Awww!" Jek whined.

"Jek. Go," Suu commanded sternly. After a few more seconds, Jek complied.

"So. What's going on?" Cut asked. "And who's your… friend… here?"

"Oh. This is Echo. We've been… exiled from the Republic. We were over heard talking about something we weren't supposed to…" Rex launched into the story.

After he was done, Rex asked, *What did you do, Cut? We're completely lost."

"Well… I just did what my heart told me to do. I guess one of your Jedi would say I was following the guidance of the Force. It's… hard to describe. But somehow I ended up here."

Rex lost much of his hope then. He was no Jedi. He didn't know anything about the Force, and as for following his heart, he was a soldier, bred to fight. He didn't have much of a heart. He and Echo were completely lost. Rex put his head in his hands. What were they going to do now?

* * *

Meanwhile, far away on a distant planet, Ahsoka Tano sensed something different in the Force. It was someone she cared about… one of her friends…

Rex!

Ahsoka didn't know exactly what had happened to Captain Rex, but she sensed he needed guidance. She could send out her feelings through the Force… she'd never done it before, but she could try.

Ahsoka concentrated hard.

 _Rex… I'm out here… Rex… hear me…_

* * *

Echo watched as Rex put his head in his hands in hopelessness.

 _Well that's it,_ he thought. _We're doomed._ If Captain Rex could not think of an idea, there was no way Echo could.

Suddenly, Rex sat up straight. His eyes widened. With his next words, hope returned to the pair of clone troopers:

"Echo. I know where we need to go."

 **Cliffhanger! Sorry but I like writing stuff with lots of cliffhangers. Next chapter coming soon (hopefully)! Please leave a review! Thanks for reading. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well people, this is the next chapter! Rexsoka is coming... Read and enjoy! :)**

"So… what system is this?" Echo asked.

"I'm… not sure," Rex replied.

"And you think Ahsoka is here? Because of a message she sent you through the Force?" Echo sounded like he didn't really believe this.

"Yes. I can just… feel it," Rex said. "The Force isn't made up, Echo. You should know this from working with General Skywalker." And indeed, it seemed that a magnetic force was pulling him towards his former commander.

"Yeah, but still… telepathy? Are you sure you didn't imagine it?" Echo asked.

"Yes, Echo," Rex said in exasperation. "Look, we're entering the atmosphere. I'll pilot us to Ahsoka's location."

"Okay… but you'd better know what you're doing," Echo said.

* * *

Ahsoka sat up suddenly as she heard the loud rumble of ship engines from outside.

 _Rex!_ she thought. She ran outside as the ship landed in the clearing in front of her little hut that she had made herself. Ahsoka hadn't seen a friendly face in a long time, so she was looking forward to seeing the captain.

The ramp descended from the underbelly of the ship, and out came Captain Rex and another clone she didn't recognize. She smiled as the clones approached her.

"Captain Rex," she said. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

"Hey, kid," replied Rex. There was something in his voice that made Ahsoka imagine a smile under his helmet. Rex _did_ smile - even though it didn't seem like he ever would.

"Who's this?" Ahsoka asked, gesturing to the other clone.

"Hello, Commander Tano. It's been a long time," he said.

After a long pause in which Ahsoka did nothing but frown in confusion, Rex said, "It's Echo."

Ahsoka stared in amazement as Echo removed his helmet. "But… you died in that explosion at the Citadel! I - I was there!" she stammered. "Woah, woah, woah," she said as Rex looked as if he was about to launch into a long, complicated story. "I'll take you inside, get you some food, and then you can tell me all about why you're here."

"Sounds good, Commander," Rex said as Ahsoka led them inside.

* * *

Far away, on the planet Serenno, Darth Tyranus - a man that most people knew as Count Dooku - sat in his palace, awaiting an urgent message from Darth Sidious. Suddenly the familiar hologram of his master appeared on his computer console. Dooku knelt.

"What is it, Master?" he asked.

"Our plan… our plan to destroy the Jedi… it is in danger," Sidious said.

"How?" Dooku inquired.

"I have been notified that a clone - CT-7567 - possesses knowledge about the plot that he gained from ARC trooper 5555. I believe he goes by the name of Rex."

"Ah, yes," Dooku said, "That one. He has defeated us in many battles, along with General Skywalker."

"He has been outcast from the Republic, along with his comrade, who has the nickname Echo," Sidious told him. "He is now on the run, Fortunately, I had a clone place a tracking beacon on his ship. Here is the frequency. I want you to hunt him down and kill him and anyone else he might have told the information to. Do whatever it takes, Lord Tyranus."

"Yes, my lord," Dooku said. The hologram of Sidious dissapeared. Dooku tuned in to the tracking frequency, and after a few moments, commed his droid commander.

"Send a ship of battle droids to this system," he told the commander as he sent him the coordinates and informed him of his mission.

* * *

As Echo finished up the story of how he and Rex came to be here, the trio suddenly heard a distant rumbling.

"What was that?" Ahsoka exclaimed.

"Don't know… I'm going to go check it out," Echo said. He grabbed a pair of macrobinoculars and rushed outside.

Ahsoka looked at Rex. "That was some story, Captain," she said. "I can't believe you of all people were cast out of the Republic."

"Yeah, well… I guess we have more in common than we think, kid," Rex replied.

"Sure…" Ahsoka's words trailed off as Rex's brown eyes connected with hers. They were like a gateway past the hard outer shell that defined him as the fearless, determined clone captain that most people knew him as. But his eyes showed that behind that wall, there was something more; a different side of Rex that most people didn't even know existed. They showed that he could be caring and compassionate, and not just the hardened clone soldier he was bred to be.

Something felt different about that moment to Ahsoka… a feeling she'd never felt before. It was like a spark had ignited between the clone and the Jedi, a spark that would soon burst into an unstoppable blaze.

After a few more moments, Echo reentered the hut. Ahsoka and Rex tore their gaze away from each other as Rex cleared his throat awkwardly.

"What was that out there, Echo?" he asked.

"Those were Seperatist droid bombers," the ARC trooper replied as Ahsoka and Rex stared in surprise. "They know we're here, Rex. They know that we know about the plot, and they will stop at nothing to hunt us down."

 **There ya go! How did you like it? Please tell me in a review! Ideas for the next chapter came to me today while sitting through extremely boring classes at school. It is in progress! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the next chapter! I got nothing else to say right now, so go ahead and read!**

"So… what should we do?" Rex asked Echo and Ahsoka. "Obviously, we can't fight a whole army of clankers with just the three of us."

"We can't go to the Republic for help, since we're all outcasts," Echo said. "I say our best chance is to leave the system and hope they don't find us."

"My question is, how did they even find us in the first place?" Ahsoka wondered.

"They might have tracked our ship," Echo suggested. "I'll go check." He walked outside to the ship.

"Well Commander… better start getting ready to leave," Rex told Ahsoka.

"I am ready," she replied. "I don't really have anything else I want to bring with me except my lightsabers."

Echo walked back inside. "They did track us," he said. "I found a tracking device on our ship. We'll have to recheck before we leave. Speaking of which - where should we go? We shouldn't go to any Republic controlled systems, since they probably have orders to kill us or capture us."

"The Seperatists wouldn't be too friendly either, since they're trying to hunt us down," Ahsoka said. "I think we should…"

Rex let Ahsoka's voice wash over him, not really paying attention to her words. Being around Ahsoka had always comforted him and made him feel good. Around Ahsoka, he could relax somewhat, knowing that the burden of command rested on both their shoulders. With Ahsoka, Rex felt like he could do anything. She wasn't General Skywalker, who was always expecting the very best of him. She wasn't his men, looking up to him for leadership and following his orders. She was the perfect in-between. Rex was glad they had teamed up on this wild adventure.

Suddenly Echo's voice brought him back to reality. "So what do you think, Captain?"

"Um… what?" Rex asked, embarrased.

"Not paying attention, huh, Captain?" said an amused Ahsoka. "I think we should just let the Force guide us. Echo agrees. It's what you did before, and you ended up finding me, right?"

"Yes. I think that's a great… plan." Rex said. He had a strange impulse just to agree with everything she said.

"Plan… if you can call it that," Echo said. "Well, we should be off. All aboard, and I'll check for tracking devices."

* * *

Ahsoka looked back one last time at the tiny hut that had been her home for many months. She didn't think that this would happen, but she already felt the longing for the peaceful days spent in her hut, away from the war, in solitude. It had helped Ahsoka realize who she was and the kind of person she wanted to be. But she knew that somehow, it would turn out okay, because Rex was with her. It didn't matter what she had to go through, as long as Rex was by her side through it all. He gave her strength, a reason to keep going. She hadn't realized she felt this way before about the captain. Perhaps it was because she used to be a Jedi, and Jedi were forbidden to feel those things.

But she was a Jedi no more.

They flew in silence for a few minutes when all of a sudden there was a loud CRASH and the ship shook violently.

"They must have seen us take off!" Ahsoka yelled as another blast rattled the ship. "Land, land!" Another blast hit them. "Echo, what are you doing over there? Get us on the ground! Preferably NOT via crash landing!"

At this point, Echo was having quite a hard time controlling the ship. He tried to slow their descent, which had little effect. All he could do was yell "Brace yourselves!"

Within seconds, the ship had crashed to the ground in flames.

"Everybody out!" Rex yelled. Ahsoka and Echo complied.

"That crash probably gave away our postition," Echo noted. "We need to get as far away from here as possible." The trio started running into a nearby forest of peculiar, colorful trees native to the planet.

After running for a few miles, they discovered a cave. It was well hidden if you weren't looking for it, but Ahsoka had a keen eye and told the clones of her discovery. Both of them agreed it was a good place to make a shelter, since the battle droids didn't look beyond their own programming and most likely would not discover the tucked-away cave.

"I'm going to go scout ahead to see what's beyond here," Echo said. "You guys stay here and set up camp."

"Sounds good, Echo," Ahsoka said. "But don't go far, and be careful. The droids will be on the lookout."

* * *

While Ahsoka set up their remaining gear in the cave, Rex busied himself with concealing their hideout more. Even though it was already well-camouflaged, they couldn't take any chances.

Rex had always found that steady work allowed him to think more clearly. As he worked on hanging some vines from the cave entrance, he thought about the big jumble of emotions that haad been rattling around inside him ever since he and Echo had reunited with Ashoka. He was a clone trooper, therefore he was accustomed to feeling fear and frustration, and all the emotions that came along with being a soldier

But what confused him the most was what he felt for Ahsoka. He wasn't really sure what it was, but he knew that he cared for her - a lot. He had never felt such friendship, compassion with anyone else. He had certainly been close to Fives, and he had been devastated when he died, but it felt like nothing to what he would feel if Ahsoka died especially if it happened because of what he did - or didn't do. He knewthat since he was a soldier he wasn't supposed to feel that way, it could be his greatest weakness - caring so much that he didn't know when to let go.

Ahsoka suddenly interrupted Rex's intense thinking session by abruptly pushing through the vines thhat Rex had secured from the top of the cave, pulling down a few accidentally.

"Hey!" Rex exclaimed. "it took time to get those in the perfect position, and you _have_ to come and ruin it inabout a second."

"Sorry, I know that placing vines is a very difficult art to master," Ahsoka replied. She laughed.

Rex loved it when she laughed. It sounded bright, and her blue eyes lit up when she did it, and her smile-

 _I need to stop,_ Rex thought. _I'm a soldier. I shouldn't be thinking about her in that way._

But another voice whispered at the back of Rex's mind. _Well, you were kicked out of the Republic, so you're not technically a soldier…_

Rex shook his head. He needed to stop overthinking everything. "What is it, Commander?" he asked Ahsoka.

Ahsokas cheery, casual aura faded when he called her by her title. Ahsoka looked slightly dissapointed that they were back to Captain and Commander instead of just Rex and Ahsoka.

"Well… it's been a while since Echo left," Ahsoka said. "I was just wondering if maybe we should go check on him?"

"I'll handle it," Rex told her, "You stay here." He started to walk away when he felt a hand grab his arm.

"No. You can't go alone, Captain," Ahsoka said. "If something has happened to Echo… I… I care about you. I can't let anything happen to you on my account."

 _She… she… cares about me?_ Rex was caught off guard.

"Oh… um… s-sure," he stammered. "It - it would be great if you came along."

Ahsoka smiled. "Great. Lets go!"

Ahsoka felt a rush of excitement as they ran through the forest. She hadn't felt this way since she had last fought in the war. It must have been the anticipation of coming battle.

Although, it could have been because Rex was with her but she pushed these thoughts away and tried to focus.

Finally Rex and Ahsoka came to the top of a ridge looking out on a large plateau of grass. On the top of the hill they found-

"Echo's macrobinoculars," Rex said. "There are no other signs he was even here."

Ahsoka frowned, trying to make sense of it. Eventually, she figured it out.

"They must have kidnapped Echo," she said. "They left the macrobinoculars as a sort of clue to us that they have him. They want to use him as bait to lure us in. But the only reason they would do that is because-"

"They don't know where we are," Rex said, catching on. "Echo was taken here, which is a pretty good distance from our camp. The droids probably only looked in this general area, meaning they never went deep enough into the forest to come close to finding us."

Ahsoka thought over their predicament. After a while, Rex asked, "What do you think we should do, Commander?"

Ahsoka smiled. "Go and rescue Echo of course. What did you think I would do, leave him to the droids?"

Rex grinned back at her. "I like this idea."

"We'd better get started, then," Ahsoka said.

 **Thanks for reading. Please leave a review! Next chapter is coming!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter. I'm starting to ship Rexsoka more as I write this... Enjoy! :P**

"Yep… looks like a Separatist camp, all right," said Rex as he looked through the macrobinoculars. In the distance, on the far side of the large expanse of grass, there was a structure surrounded by walls. It looked like a temporary base, as if the droids had just gotten there and didn't plan on staying after their mission of finding Ahsoka and Rex. The field that stood between them was surrounded by forest on both sides.

"We need to go there!" Ahsoka said, and started down the hill.

"Woah, woah, woah," Rex said, sticking out an arm to stop her. "We shouldn't go tonight. It's getting to dark to travel. We can go back to the cave and get a little rest, maybe some food, and we can set out tomorrow."

"Oh, fine," Ahsoka said. "Let's head back."

Ahsoka shivered as she tried to fall asleep. The planet they were on got quite cold at night, and it was very uncomfortable unless you had a fire going, which Ahsoka and Rex didn't. Ahsoka sighed.

Suddenly Rex's voice came out of the darkness. "Can't sleep?"

"Yeah," Ahsoka replied. "It's just... really cold."

Light flooded the cave as Rex lit a lamp. "Come here," he said, sitting up.

Ahsoka made her way over and sat down next to Rex. She saw something different in his face, and felt through the Force that something was bothering him.

"So… what's up?" she asked, moving closer.

"I was just thinking about tomorrow," Rex said. "If I don't make it out of that base-"

"No. You're not going to die," Ahsoka said fiercely.

"But… there must be thousands of droids at that base," Rex said. "This plan is looking to be nearly impossible."

"You need to stop over thinking it," Ahsoka told him. Then she slipped her hand into Rex's.

The worry in Rex's eyes seemed to go away somewhat. It was then that Ahsoka realized that he wasn't afraid for his own life, but for hers.

"Hey. It's going to be okay," she said softly.

Rex nodded.

They laid down on the cave floor to sleep, Ahsoka feeling much warmer than before.

* * *

Rex blinked his eyes awake. Light streamed across the cave onto the still-sleeping Ahsoka. Her hand was still in his. He let go and sat up. He stared at the cave wall and thought about last night.

After a few minutes, Ahsoka yawned and sat up. "Hey, Rex," she said. "Feeling better?"

"Sure, Commander," he replied. "Listen… about last night…"

"What?" Ahsoka said.

Rex took a deep breath. "I… I just don't think we should be together," he said. "Because… well… you're a Jedi, and I'm a soldier. Neither of us are supposed to form attachments, especially you."

Ahsoka looked surprised, and a little hurt. "Oh, well… okay," she said. "But we can still be friends."

"Of course," Rex said. He hated hurting her like this. _It's for the best,_ he tried to convince himself.

"Let's go," Rex said. He and Ahsoka left the cave and started walking through the forest towards the Separatist base.

They walked in silence. Rex noticed that Ahsoka was being significantly quieter than usual. The spring in her step was absent, and her energetic aura had disappeared.

"Want to take a break, Commander?" Rex asked.

"Sure," Ahsoka replied. Her tone of voice made Rex realize that he may have hurt her more than he had thought.

They sat down on a log under a rocky overhang. Neither one of them said anything. After a few minutes, Rex heard a strange rumbling, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Suddenly, he was shoved hard off the log. He looked up to see the overhang collapse and fall - on top of Ahsoka.

Rex shot up off the ground and ran over to the pile of rubble. "Commander!" he yelled. "Commander!"

 _She can't be dead, I can't stand it if she dies for me,_ Rex thought, starting to dig through the rocks. "Commander!" he yelled frantically. "Ahsoka!"

Rex was thrown backward as the rocks exploded from the inside. Rex stood up and saw Ahsoka shakily rising from the debris.

"Ahsoka!" he said, rushing over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ahsoka coughed. "I was able to use the Force to keep the rocks from completely crushing me."

Rex pulled her into a hug. "I thought you were dead, Ahsoka, I can't lose you, I couldn't stand it I'd you died-"

Ahsoka put her finger on his lips. "Shh," she said. "I'm okay."

Rex hugged her tighter. When they broke apart, Ahsoka gave him a little kiss on the lips.

Ahsoka smiled at Rex's shocked expression. Then they both started laughing uncontrollably. When they were done, their smiles were larger than they had ever smiled before.

"I'm glad you're alive, Ahsoka," Rex said.

"Me too," Ahsoka said. "Let's go find Echo."

* * *

Ahsoka felt like she could do anything. She sliced the droids with her lightsaber with ease.

Ahsoka and Rex had gotten over the wall of the base. They were now breaking through the entrance to the main building. They had managed to go unnoticed by the droids at the base so far.

Ahsoka started cutting through the door with her lightsaber. She used the Force to set down the circle of metal softly.

Ahsoka and Rex silently crept through the hallways to the detention center. Once they got there, Rex asked, "Can you feel which one he's in?"

"I think so…" Ahsoka said, concentrating. "He's in this one." Ahsoka pointed to one of the cells. She easily cut through the door and she and Rex stepped inside.

Echo was sprawled across the hard metal floor. Rex knelt down next to him to check him out. "He's unconscious, but I think he'll live."

Ahsoka cut his binders with her lightsaber. She and Rex draped his arms across their shoulders and began carrying him out.

Once they were out of the building, they were greeted by a shocking sight. There were countless droids outside waiting for them.

"It's a trap!" Rex yelled as they opened fire.

Rex and Ahsoka moved behind a parked ship with Echo. Rex spotted a turret manned by a battle droid, which he took out.

"I'm going to go use that turret!" he yelled to Ahsoka. She nodded. "Get out of here!"

He ran over to the turret and climbed inside. He looked to make sure Ahsoka wasn't nearby and sent a spray of lasers towards the droids. Then he shot at the main building and pretty much everything else on the base. He jumped out of the turret and ran to Ahsoka and the unconscious Echo, waiting at the treeline.

Ahsoka smiled at the burning base. "Nice job, Rex," she said.

"It's not over yet," Rex said. "Any other droids patrolling the area will be after us. We'd better get going."

Echo's eyes fluttered open. "What… where am I?"

"Hey, Echo," Ahsoka said. "We got you out of that Separatist base. What did they do to you?"

"They… tortured me to try and… figure out where you were," Echo said. "I definitely… can't walk." He was drifting back into unconsciousness. "Thanks…" he said as he passed out again.

"We'd better get going," Rex said. He and Ahsoka lifted Echo up and started walking back through the forest.

 **Thanks for reading! I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be the last. I'm working on it! Please review! yay :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well... this is the end to my very first fanfiction! yayz! hope you like it.**

Rex, Ahsoka, and Echo had made it almost halfway through the forest, trying to get back to the cave, and the day was coming to an end. They had moved slowly because Rex had to half-carry Echo, who was still weak from his time at the Separatist base. He was currently limping along with one arm around Rex.

"Can we… rest?" Echo panted.

"Sure, Echo," Rex said. "There isn't much point in going on much longer, as it's getting dark."

Echo felt like a dead weight. He'd had to be carried or supported by Rex, barely conscious, as they slowly made their way back through the forest. It was terrible to be there but not be able to help.

Echo also felt like he'd missed something that had happened between Rex and Ahsoka. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, but _something_ felt different.

"I'll take first watch, Rex," Ahsoka told the captain as Echo sat down on the ground.

"Are you sure?" Rex asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Ahsoka replied "The droids are catching up with us as we speak."

"All right… but be careful, Ahsoka," Rex said. "Wake me up when your shift is over." Ahsoka nodded and took up position in front of Rex and Echo.

Echo laid down, falling asleep quickly because of his fatigue.

Echo was quickly shaken awake by Ahsoka the next morning. The sun was just barely coming up. He felt much better than he had yesterday. "Wha… what is it?" he asked.

"The droids," Ahsoka said. "They've found us."

* * *

Rex was slightly angry at Ahsoka for staying up all night without giving him his turn at watch, but that didn't matter right then. The droids were upon them. Echo and Rex put on their helmets.

"Can you walk?" Rex asked Echo.

"I think so," Echo said. Rex handed him one of his blaster pistols, just as a group of about ten battle droids rushed out of the trees behind them and started shooting. The trio ran towards the plains as the clones shot at the droids and Ahsoka deflected the shots with her lightsaber.

The three arrived at the tree line just as they destroyed the last droid. "Well that wasn't so hard," Ahsoka commented. But then they looked out on the plain.

A horde of battle droids stood assembled there. There weren't as many as there were the previous day at the base, but there were enough to overwhelm the three.

The droids spotted the three and started firing. The clones and Ahsoka were pushed out away from the trees into the open. Soon they were surrounded.

As Rex shot at the droids, he couldn't help being impressed by Ahsoka as her lightsaber flashed back and forth with amazing speed, deflecting the blaster bolts. But Rex could tell she was getting tired. Staying up all night was catching up with her.

Suddenly Rex noticed a group of droids approaching Ahsoka from behind. Her Force senses were worn out from the night, and she wouldn't notice them until it was too late. One of the droids raised its blaster, preparing to fire.

Rex thrust himself in between them. He heard the blaster fire and staggered back as a firework of pain exploded across his chest. He heard Ahsoka screaming his name, but her voice sounded far away.

Rex closed his eyes and descended into the never-ending darkness.

* * *

Ahsoka wasn't sure if she could go on much longer. She was paying for staying up on watch. She deflected bolt after bolt, and the swinging of her lightsaber turned into a steady rhythm.

Then she heard Echo yell "Commander! Behind you!"

She turned to see droids behind her, blasters up. It was too late. Ahsoka braced herself for the impact of the shot.

But then Rex jumped in front of her. He staggered back as the blast hit him.

"Rex!" Ahsoka screamed.

Then he was falling, falling. "No!" Ahsoka yelled.

Ahsoka sprang forward in a whirlwind of rage. If she was a Jedi still, she would have controlled it, tried to stifle it. But now, she let it control her, destroying droids left right and center. Soon all that remained was a pile of smoking spare parts.

As Ahsoka looked behind her, she saw Echo clutching an injured arm. He removed his helmet, revealing his expression of shock.

And then there was Rex.

She ran over to him and knelt beside him. The Jaig eyes painted on his helmet stared up at her as she took his limp hand. There was a single blast mark on his battered armor, right over his heart. She ran her hand over it, as if this would magically heal the wound.

"No, Rex," she whispered. She removed his helmet.

She stared at his lifeless face in disbelief. Rex, the brave, steady clone captain, couldn't be dead. Ahsoka shook him as she felt a burning behind her eyes. "Rex, come on, Rex, wake up. Stay with me, Rex, don't leave, I'm right here." Her voice unsteady, she knew there was no hope, it was too late.

Her whole body shook as the hot, wet tears dropped from her eyes in a steady stream, and sobs were wrenched from within her.

Rex was gone.

She would never hear his voice again, or look into the mysterious depths of his brown eyes. Never again would they laugh together or fight alongside each other.

Rex was gone.

She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Echo. "Are… are you okay, Commander?" he asked hesitantly.

Ahsoka rose shakily from the ground. She threw her arms around Echo and closed her eyes. For a moment she could pretend he was Rex. After all, they were perfect copies of each other. But they really weren't. Rex was different, they were all different. After a while she let go of Echo.

Ahsoka stared down at Rex's body with unfocused eyes. She felt like the whole galaxy had fallen apart around her.

Rex had died to save her, but he had left her alone.

* * *

A few days after it happened, Echo and Ahsoka were sitting in their cave. Echo had been trying to talk to Ahsoka, but she just stared at the ground mutely with unfocused eyes, not responding.

Echo walked over to Ahsoka and knelt down beside her. "Ahsoka," he said in a calming voice. "I need you to talk to me." He looked into the despairing depths of her blue eyes, trying to get a response out of her. In these last couple days, Ahsoka had not been her usual bright, bouncy self.

"What is it Echo?" Her voice sounded distant.

"I want to talk to you about Rex." Echo said steadily.

Ahsoka nodded and took a deep breath.

"It's just that… I know how you feel… or at least sort of." _Here we go,_ Echo thought. "After Rex, Anakin, and the Bad Batch rescued me from my Separatist prison, Rex told me that Fives was dead. It was… hard. "...We were the only ones left in Domino Squad, Fives and I. I was closer to him than anyone else. The two of us were never alone, because we had each other. Knowing that I'll never see Fives again... It weighs on me every day. But I had to learn to let go. I haven't forgotten Fives, but I remember him in a good way. I don't just engulf myself in sadness every day. I think it's time for you to move along. Rex would want you to keep going no matter what. So... for Rex."

Ahsoka had silent tears streaming down her face. After a moment she said, "Thanks Echo. I... I do think that Rex would want me to get out of this hole I've put myself in." She sniffled, and then she did something she never would have thought possible if not for Echo's little speech.

She smiled. Ahsoka laughed for the first time in days. "I can imagine him now... 'Come on kid, what's the matter with you? Stop sulking 24/7 and get on with your life!'" she said in an impression of Rex's voice.

She and Echo sat in the cave laughing. Echo thought that Rex would be proud of him for getting the old Ahsoka back, the Ahsoka that he had known.

And through it all, in the end...

She had found her way.

THE END

 **So...**

 **I hope that was sad in a good way. I really needed to pour my feels out in a good ole story. I have many many ideas for more fanfiction. I've had lots of ideas floating around in my head for the last few weeks and now it's all coming out! So stay tuned! bye for now :)**


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